Cheap Ways To Improve The Mets: Outfield

With the Mets losing money to Bernie Madoff, and seemingly pinched for cash, we need to find cheap ways to improve the Mets.

In the outfield, we have a mess, with Beltran owning center, and hopefully coming back from his awful defensive season this year (a UZR/150 of -5.5), but in 08 was good with a UZR/150 of 8.8, in 07 it was .9, and 06 it was 5.7, so it can go either way. Offensively, this year he has swung at 66% of the pitches inside the strike zone, and just 20% of the pitches outside of it.

CARLOSBELTRAN.jpg
One thing you have to consider is that this year and in 2007, his two bad UZR/150 seasons, he suffered from knee injuries, this year he was out for about 3 months, and in 2007 after the season he had to undergo surgery. Factoring that in we can consider his 2008 and 2006 seasons flukes. He has always been a patient hitter, and you never lose that, his OBPs over the last couple of seasons have been .388, .353, .376, .420. He has always controlled the strike zone, and causes the pitcher to throw a lot of pitches. Look below at Player A and Player B, it may shock you.

Player A 

27 HR  40 2B 5 3B 25/3 SB/CS .876 OPS 57.6 VORP 

Player B 35 HR 30 2B 0 3B 18/3 SB/CS .976 OPS 62.9

Player A is Carlos Beltran, more triples, more stolen bases, less caught stealing, within 5 points in VORP, and is getting payed 7 million dollars less a year.

So we are set in Center field,  lets look at left.

Angel Pagan is one name that screams out, but look up Franklyn Guttierez's  UZR/150.

10 Reason To Be Happy About 09

1 Luis Castillo

After signing a four year contract for 32 million, Luis Castillo had a bad 2008 season, and the Mets franticly tried to trade him for anything last offseason, but no one was biting. So we were "stuck" with a bad second baseman, but boy oh boy did he shine, and as of today has a AVG/OBP/SLG of .313/.401 /.362, and has, if anything raised his trade value to where they can get something good for him, although he has had his moments...

2 Anderson Hernandez

We got him in mid August because of injuries, trading Greg Veloz to Washington for him, and he has been great for the Mets, getting big hits, and playing good defense, and showing he may be a piece of next year's puzzle.

3 The Jeff Francoeur Trade

When we traded Ryan Church to Atlanta for Jeff Francoeur, it seemed I was the only Met fan who was welcoming the trade, as I never did think Church was that good. Since then, Francoeur is batting .287/.320/.470, with 7 Home Runs and 35 RBIs, which has already matched his Atlanta production, while Ryan Church is batting .265/.357/.425, with 2 home runs and 17 RBIs.

4 Angel Pagan

When Carlos Beltran, and the Mets called on Angel Pagan to fill-in, a lot of Mets fans were waving the white flag, but of all the reasons we are waving the white flag, Angel Pagan is most certainly not one of them. He has played great defense in center field, and is amongst the league leaders in triples, with 9, he is batting .306/.345/.500, and has just been a great leadoff batter, getting on base, and getting extra base hits as well, and he could even be a 3 hitter if the Mets would think outside of the box.

5 Ike Davis

Son of former Major Leaguer Ron Davis, Ike is a power hitting first baseman, picked in the first  round last season, and after a dissapointing first half year, had a breakout season, and is considered one of the Mets Top-2 prospects by many. Batting a combined .298/.381/.524, 20 home runs, and 71 RBIs, and has been a big bright spot for the Mets minor leagues.

6 At least No One Died

Self explanatory...

7 Daniel Murphy's First Base Defense

At least he can play defense, he has not been so good at the plate, but has been great in the field, maybe making the play of the year versus LA.

8 Murphy's Power To Right

Although most of Murphy's offense has been bad, we at least know that Murphy can slug the ball out to right, as he seems to love that short porch in right, hitting most of his home runs this season there.

9 K-Rod's 1st Half

For the first half he was our Brad Lidge since, not so much...

10 The Rest Of The Minors

They are not THAT bad, we have Thole, who is Mauer-like, Niewenhuis, who got really hot and is shooting through the system, Jenry Mejia and Brad Holt are finally at Double-A, and many more are breaking out this year, and showing me might just have an okay farm system.

Cyclone In Playoffs Tonight

Line-Up, And Season Polls!

After you vote, scroll down for the line-up.



1 Angel Pagan 

2 Luis Castillo

3 David Wright

4 Carlos Beltran

5 Daniel Murphy

6 Jeff Francoeur

7 Josh Thole

8 Anderson Hernandez

9 Tim Redding

Mets Season In Review 11-13 (Season Polls At Bottom)

Hey Mets fans! Lets continue with our Mets Season In Review, with numbers 11-13 coming here. 

David Wright

DAVIDWRIGHT.jpg
Age: 26

Acquired: MLB First Year Player Draft

Build: 6"0 210

David Wright is the face of the franchise and was going to hit 30 home runs, have the first hit at Citi Field, and win and MVP while leading the Mets to the World Series, right? Well to all the Mets fans reading my blog, sorry as all three of those did not come true, as he has 8 home runs, and Jody Gerut has the first, hit, home run, plate appearance, at-bat, XBH, and heartbreak for Mets fans, at Citi Field, although when Wright tied the game with a three run home run in the bottom of the fifth, maybe for a second, all those goals would come true. Sadly his line is 326/410 /462, and has been nailed in the head, and then wore the new more protective helmet, then ditched it for his old digs when he said it was too big, oh well.

Expected Grade: A+

Actual Grade: A-

Mike Pelfrey

mike-pelfrey.jpg
Age: 25

Build: 6"7 230

Acquired: MLB First Year Player Draft

Mike Pelfrey was dubbed the number 2 starter, and a legit MLB pitcher by Omar Minaya, Jerry Manual, and the Wilpons, and sadly he has not panned out like us as Mets fans, and they would have liked, as he has compiled a 10-10 record, with an ERA of 4.83. His K-BB ratio is 93-61, with a WHIP of 1.51, and you just can not allow 1 1/2 runners on base per inning and expect to get out of it most of the time unscathed, see Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Oliver Perez on that topic. He still does have time to pan out, according to the great Tom Seaver because "a pitcher doesn't really learn how to pitch until about a 100 career starts, Pelf is at 76. Another point against him coming into the season is that he was on Tom Verducci's list of people effected by his ego-fueled Verducci effect, which is complete and total nonsense.

Expected Grade: B+

Actual: C

JJ Putz

JJ.jpg
Age: 32

Build: 6"5 250

Acquired: Trade From Seattle, 2009 offseason.

JJ Putz and Fransisco Rodriguez were brought over to solidify the back end of the Mets bullpen, and finally get the Mets back into the playoffs, but going into the season Putz was not as effective as he was for Seattle, and the climax of his struggles came in Pittsburgh when he blew a lead to cost the Mets the win, and then found out he had an injury so he was placed on the DL, and was expected back in August, in August there was no news. Finally Omar Minaya spoke to the Press about Putz, saying he was going to opt for season ending surgery. After this season he has an option the Mets can either exercise, or not pick up and he will be a Type-B free agent and the Mets can get a draft pick for him, and at least get something... 


Expected Grade: A

Actual Grade: F




Eric Beaulac, What I Think

Eric Beaulac.pdf

If you go to this PDF, it will tell you what I think of Eric Beaulac, and it may surprise you.

Speaking of Mets prospects, Keith Law had this to say on Reese Havens:

Darren (New York)


Hi Klaw,Reese Havens, eventually: starting MLB second baseman, utility guy, organizational guy or pizza delivery guy? Thanks.

Keith Law
  (1:25 PM)


Depends on how fast he drives.


And this on Mets prospects in general:

Rory (NYC)


Given the play of many Mets prospects this year, do you think their farm system is much deeper than given credit for. For example Ike Davis, Holt, Mejia, Nieuwenhuis, Tejeda, Thole, Familia, etc. have had very solid years.

Keith Law
  (1:40 PM)


It is better than the local and national media would have you believe. However, Holt has been lit up like a California forest in AA. I'm not that excited by him.


Reports: Mets Sign 17 Year Japanese Pitcher

According to Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker, the Mets have signed 17 year old Japanese pitcher Taiki Kawasaki. This is what Newman says:

This one is about is about as under-the-radar as it gets -- according to ChuSpo, the Mets have agreed to sign Japanese teenager Taiki Kawasaki to a minor league contract. Kawasaki is a 17 year-old left handed pitcher who had been training at Julio Franco'sbaseball academy in Florida. The Osaka native left Japan after finishing junior high school in April 2008 with the hopes of catching on with an MLB organization. In his time in Franco's academy, Kawasaki has grown from 177cm, 66kg (5′10, 145) to 185cm 77kg (6′1, 170), and added velocity to his fastball, which now averages around 140kmph (about 87mph). An older report mentions that Kawasaki has a slider and curve as well.

I couldn't find any English info on this signing, but this ESPN Deportes article from last year mentions Kawasaki's presence at Franco's academy. Franco will reportedly travel to Japan in mid-October to officially announce the signing.


So he has an 87 MPH fastball, which is good for a 17 year old, he has a slider and a curve, and has been training at Julio Franco's baseball academy in Florida, interesting...

Mets Season In Review 7-9


Daniel Murphy

8796987.jpg
Age: 24

Build: 6"2 215

Acquired: MLB First Year Player Draft, 2006

Drafted: 13th Round, Out Of Jacksonville State University

The Mets organization, most to Mets fans chagrin, hyped Murphy as the next great homegrown Met, and at the time some people bought into it because of his great second half the previous season, in the first fame it was as if the Mets dreams came true, Santana dominated, then Green and Putz and K-Rod, and Murphy hit a home run, and showed great plate discipline, and the fans were happy, Murphy was solid for a while, but then imploded. In April his line was .324/.373/.426, May was .176/.278/.353, and so on. Although he has been doing better at the plate lately, and has shown good plate discipline, and a lack of strike outs, also he has shined at first base, making what might have been the play of the season, flipping the ball behind his back to the pitcher to get the runner by microfractions of a step.

Expected Grade: B-

Actual Grade: C-

Angel Pagan

ANGEL.jpg
Age: 28

Build: 6"2 195

Acquired: Trade from CHC in 2007/2008 offseason

Drafted: New York Mets in the 4th Round Of the 1999 MLB First Year Player Draft

He was fighting for a fifth outfielders job in Spring Training, but he got injured and was out until June, when he would play occasionally in left, but when Carlos Beltran went down Pagan was there to take over, and that he did, that he did. He is batting .303/.346/.504, batting lead-off, and is the closest thing to a lead-off hitter they have had since Reyes went down. He is 4th on the team in VORP, and his is at 19.0. Not to mention, he has 8 triples, and is amongst the league leaders in that stat.

Expected Grade: C

Actual Grade: A-

Tim Redding

TIMREDDING.jpg
Age: 31

Build: 5"11 230

Acquired: Signed as free agent in the 2008/2009 offseason

Drafted: 20th Round of the 1997 First Year Amateur Player Draft

Tim Redding was signed as a 5th starter, got hurt, lost his job, got it back, lost it, and now has it back because of injury, he was ok in his first stint, ok in his second, and has been pretty good in this one, showing overall sign of even a 3 or 4 starter, which is always good to see from the guy who was brought in as the 5th starter.

Expected Grade: C+

Actual Grade C+


Mets Season In Review 4-6

1-3 is here.

Pat Misch

PATMISCH.jpg
Age: 28

Build: 6"2 195

Acquired: June 5th off waivers from SF

Drafted: 7th Round Of The 2003 Draft by the San Fransisco Giants, out of Western Michigan University


Pat Misch was claimed off waivers by the Mets in June as a cheap lefty reliever, and then ended up becoming a key part of the bullpen, and now the rotation. He is probably known to the casual fan for the play versus Philliadelphia, where he tried to block an errant throw with his foot, and failed to do so looking quite silly in the process. According to Baseball Prospectus's VORP, he has given the Mets 8.5 runs, and has been the fourth best pitcher on the Mets.

Expected Grade: D

Actual: B+

Omir Santos

omir.jpg
Age: 28 

Build: 6"0 215

Acquired: Signed as free agent

I said this of Santos on March 30th:

"Today a catcher who is at Mets camp, who will be going to Buffalo's camp any day now for the Triple-A team's work outs, but he should not be, as he is a legit catching option. He has bounced around the Bigs with teams such as the Yankees, and most recently the Orioles, and is quietly having a great spring. He has a Home Run which he hit today, and 4 RBIs, as a non roster invitee. He hit that home run in the seventh inning for the Mets off of Eric O 'Flaherty."

This season when Brian Schneider went down, the Mets had to call up a catcher, and decided on Omir Santos, who captured Mets fans and Omar Minaya's hearts, getting big hits, most notably a go ahead, 2 out homer off of Jonathon Papelbon.  This year he is batting .263/.302/.395, and has been dreadful, with his best month being June, where he was average. If he is the Mets starting catcher next year we will be in bad shape.

Expected Grade: F

Actual Grade: D-

Fransisco Rodriguez

KROD.jpg
Age: 27

Build: 6"0 195

Acquired: December 10th, 2008 as a free agent from LAA

The Mets signed K-Rod, and added JJ Putz, and it was supposed to sure up the bullpen, but it would end up not mattering much, as Putz would get hurt, and K-Rod would become ineffective. Of course you could say that he was great in the first half, blowing just 2 saves (1 if you do not count the Castillo game), and dominating the NL to the point of being an All Star, and pitching well in the game, but the Second Half has been all downhill. He has blown numerous saves, and has been generally hittable. 

Expected Grade: A+

Actual: A- 

Mets Season In Review 1-3

Cory Sullivan

CORYSULLIVAN.jpg
Age: 30

Build: 6"0 200

Bats/Throws: L/L

College: Wake Forest

Drafted: 7th Round 2001

Acquired: Signed as Free Agent


Cory Sullivan was a player brought in to compete for the fifth outfielders spot, and at worst a Triple-A outfielder, and he was at Triple-A to start the season, playing in 85 Games with a .290/.362/.367 line, and had 18 Extra Base Hits. He has a VORP for the Mets of 3.0, so he has been barely above replacement player level, but  has been solid.

Expected Grade: C

Actual Grade: C+

Bobby Parnell

BOBBYPARNELL.jpg
Age: 25

Build: 6"4 200

Acquired:Drafted in the 9th Round Of the 2009 Draft Out OF Charleston Southern College

3-7 5.81 ERA 52-32 Strike Out to Walk ratio

Parnell's 2009 has really been a tale of 2 seasons, his one in the bullpen, and his one as a starter. In 2008 he was called up as a reliever in September as the Mets were in the playoff hunt, and needed bullpen help, Parnell held batters in check and earned himself a spot in the Mets 2009 bullpen thus year, although he needed more development. As a reliever to start the year he was very good, but as the season went on hitters figured him out and started to pound him, and not chase his sliders outside, and when the Mets lost Jonathon Niese they needed a starter, so he stepped in, and was decent in his first start with a solid 2 1/3 inning performance, and he was masterful in his second start, going six shut out innings, but has been very hittable since then. A few interesting things are that hitters are 14-29 on the first pitch of the at-bat when they swing, so maybe he should try to rethink his first pitch strategy, also hitters have had 80 PAs with 3 balls on them vs Parnell.

Expected Grade: B+

Actual Grade: D

Fernando Tatis

FERNANDOTATIS.jpg
Age: 34

Build: 5"11 185

Acquired: Free Agent (Resigned at end of 2008)

College: NA

Ethnicity: Domincan

Fernando Tatis won the comeback player of the year award last season as a platoon outfielder, and was signed to another contract soon after the season was over, this season he was used only off the bench until the injuries, and Mets fans dubbed him Mr Double Play, as it seemed every time he was up he would hit into a double play, and Mets fans got disgruntled. He has just not been there at all this season with a line of .263/.324/.425, and a VORP of 7.2.

Expected Grade: B+

Actual Grade: C-
Next Entries »